Inspirational managers may harm workers' health

Public Release: 21-Apr-2016
Inspirational managers may harm workers' health
University of East Anglia

Managers who inspire their staff to perform above and beyond the call of duty may actually harm their employees' health over time, according to researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

The findings suggest that constant pressure from these 'transformational leaders' may increase sickness absence levels among employees. They also indicate that some vulnerable employees in groups with transformational leaders may in the long term have increased sickness absence rates if they ignore their ill-health and frequently show up for work while ill, known as presenteeism.

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Transformational leadership has previously been associated with positive employee well-being, better sleep quality, fewer depressive symptoms and reduced general absenteeism in the short term.

However, the new study suggests that a transformational leader who encourages their group to make an extra effort at work may exacerbate sickness absence, as high levels of presenteeism may result in reduced opportunities for recovery along with the risk of spreading contagious conditions, such as the common cold, in the long term.

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"Such leaders express values to perform above and beyond the call of duty possibly at the expense of employees' health because they have a self-interest in demonstrating low sickness absence rates in their work groups. This pattern may be a particular problem in organisations where managers are rated according to their ability to control sickness absence levels."

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Prof Daniels said: "The assumption that 'more transformational leadership is better' does not hold over time. As role models, transformational leaders should display healthy behaviours when motivating people, they should monitor and check them, and encourage workers to look after their own health. Managers need to strike a balance, they can still encourage staff to perform well, but in a way that is not at the expense of their health and well-being."

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